LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Nearly fifty years after he helped protest the exclusion of blacks from the cafeteria in the Arkansas state Capitol building, Little Rock native Raymond Carpenter returned its steps Monday, telling a crowd that while the fight for civil rights had since changed, its urgency had not.

Delivering the keynote speech at a joint celebration of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday and President Barack Obama's second inauguration, Carpenter said that the widening gap between the nation's rich and poor was the key civil rights struggle of the 21st century.

"In 1963, the issue was legal segregation, legal discrimination, legal exclusion," said Carpenter, who was then a student at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and traveled to Little Rock for the two-day sit-in protest. "In 2013, the issue is economic deprivation, economic isolation and economic desolation."

Hundreds of people paraded through downtown Little Rock before the capitol gathering for the 30th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day "marade" - the combination of a march and parade.

Dale Charles, the president of the Little Rock branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which co-sponsored the festivities, said that more than 100 groups participated in the parade. The event featured high school marching bands, community service organizations and local businesses.

Linda Mitchell, 56, of Little Rock, said she has missed the annual parade only twice since it started, and brought her granddaughter this year.

"I wanted to show her the achievements we've made and something positive happening in our community," she said. "When I was younger we didn't have parades like this."

Angela Sanders, 46, participated as a member of the local Order of the Eastern Star, a community service organization with about 150 members in the Little Rock area.

"It's not just about marching today," Sanders said. "It's about how we march every day to serve our communities and stop violence and inequality."

Last year's parade was marred by violence, when a teenager was shot twice and wounded. Police said at the time that the woman was at the wrong place at the wrong time and was caught in the crossfire of an argument.

After the parade, dozens gathered at the Capitol to hear musical performances and listen to speeches.

Roderick White, 24, from Hammond, La., gave a recitation - from memory - of King's famous 1,652-word "I Have a Dream" speech. White said he started memorizing all of King's public speeches when he was 19 years old.

"It's just as easy as learning the lyrics to my favorite rap song," he said. "I find his words so inspiring and powerful."

While the event was aimed in part at celebrating Obama's inauguration, technical difficulties prevented those in attendance from watching the president's address.

But the connection between King and Obama echoed throughout the day. Rev. Arthur Hunt framed both King and Obama in religious terms, saying that King's 1963 speech set forth a prophecy that Obama's inauguration fulfilled.

"It's a spiritual umbilical cord from Dr. King to the president," said Hunt, the CEO of the College of Aspiring Artists, which co-sponsored the rally. "This day is a holy day and we didn't want to miss it."